Charmed
by FreeElf17
Summary: There are three constants in my overly unpredictable, unstable, and often downright ridiculous existence: My absolutely mental friends, Quidditch, and Hugo Sodding Weasley
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: All that you recognise is the wonderful work of JK Rowling **

Eleanor POV

I woke up to the sound of birds merrily chirping in the trees. The warm breeze licked my face as soft morning light filtered in through the half open window. I sighed contentedly. It was so peaceful, the morning.

"Ella! We're going to be late! Hurry up!" my elder sister's hysterical voice drifted upstairs, piercing my bubble.

"Jesus. I'll be up in a sec. Chill Rita!" I replied, though making no move of getting out of bed. Rita could be so demanding sometimes.

"What? Your not up yet! We need to leave in 15 minutes!" she cried shrilly.

"What are you on ab-?" and then it hit me.

I was so dead.

I sat up so quickly my head hit the top of the bunk that me and my sister shared. Rubbing my now throbbing head with my hand I scrambled out of bed and hurried over to my calendar, not quite believing I had overslept on such an important day. Yep, it was there circled in red texta, just like I remembered. September 1st.

With speed I didn't realise I possessed, I pulled on my oldest pair of jeans and a bright orange t-shirt whilst putting everything I could find into my open trunk lying at the foot of my bunk. It surprised me how fast nine weeks had gone, though I suppose when you spend most of your time reading any book you can lay your hands on the days start to pass by in a blur. I sighed as I realised that I hadn't done anything remotely productive these whole holidays. It was always the same routine. Wake up, have breakfast, read, have lunch, a game of chess, read, dinner, shower and then bed. I really hadn't changed from first year. It was quite sad really.

"ELLA!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I shouted over my shoulder, glancing at the alarm clock sitting on the bedside table. It read 10:13. Hastily grabbing my newly acquired quidditch captain badge currently sitting on my bedside table, I bounded down the stairs taking them three at a time and skidded into the kitchen.

"S-sorry," I said out of breath, announcing my arrival. Mum turned to look at me with an accusatory glare. She was very big on punctuality. I distinctly remember the summer before first year when I woke up one minute late and she completely blew up at me, but that was in the past. Now, over the years she has gotten used to me. Rita on the other hand...

"Eleanor. This isn't cool anymore!" she whined.

"I didn't say it was," I replied back, earning a withering look from my mum.

Rita glared at me. "Hahahahaha. That was hilarious! I'm laughing my head off!" she said. Now I know why she's in Hufflepuff. She really needed to work on her comebacks.

"Oh look. Now its exploded."

She struggled to hold in her laughter, her lips twitching, but eventually she couldn't stop doubling over in fits of giggles.

"Ella, just so you know, I'm laughing at the lameness of your joke, so don't go thinking they're are actually good or anything."

I slapped her arm playfully. Apart from times like these where we disagreed, Rita and I generally got along very well. We didn't have the regular 'sister-sister rivalry' that my friends had with their sisters.

"Ella, sit down and have your breakfast before your mum gets a heart attack," my dad spoke, finally looking up from the Daily Prophet. Honestly, I don't know why he bothers to read it anymore. Ever since I read about the Prophet's denial of You-Know-Who's return and ridicule of Harry Potter in 1995, I haven't trusted it.

As I sat down hurriedly (mum really did look angry) and started buttering my toast, Rita jabbered away at super sonic speed to no one in particular. I could barely make out what she was saying at the pace she was going.

"...can't wait for seventh year! But I am NOT looking forward to NEWTs If OWLs were so exhausting, I really can't imagine how bad NEWTs will be. I'll need top marks to get into the apprenticeship for Auror training. I'll need to work a lot on my potions. Slughorn is a really harsh marker. And he's so biased! But he's a teacher, so we have to listen to him. I'm just really worried. Of coarse I guess I'll pull through in the end, it's such a huge relief when they're finally done though! Oh! I almost forgot!"

She turned to me with a neatly wrapped present and placed it in front of my half empty plate. I looked at her and then back at the present, comprehension suddenly dawning on me.

"Rita, why are you giving me presents?" I asked somewhat suspiciously.

"There's no need to look so nervous. I haven't cursed it!" I wouldn't put it past her. "It's for your ten outstanding OWLs! You got even better than me and I didn't think that was possible. But I guess I'll have to accept that I've just got a genius for a sister," she said, rolling her eyes good naturedly in my direction before ruffling my hair, "Anyway...why don't you just open it?"

I glanced at her one last time before tearing open the package.

There was a moment of silence.

"MERLINS BEARD RITA! I'VE BEEN SAVING UP FOR THIS BOOK FOR AGES! HOW ON EARTH DID YOU KNOW?"

"I guess I'm just psychic," I gave her a look. "Okay, fine. I read your diary, but you like it right?"

I decided to overlook the fact that she had probably read my deepest darkest secrets. I mean, how often do older sisters get their younger sisters awesome presents for no particular reason?

"Like it? I love it! Thank you so much Rita. I'll start it as soon as I finish reading the one I'm reading right now." I nodded to the book lying on the table next to my plate.

"What, this one?" She picked it up and read the title out loud. "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Isn't that the book written by that really famous dead muggle? Pete-, no Parke-, no Patr-"

"Charles Dickens," I corrected.

"Oh," she smiled sheepishly.

"It's actually quite good. Some of the parts are a bit boring though. It's about this boy named Nicholas Nickleby. He's really poor because his father dies unexpectedly. Being the only male in the family, he has to to find work with his wealthy uncle to support his mother and sister. But his uncle is really mean so h-"

"We really don't want to know," she interrupted. "I've never gotten your obsession with muggle literature. It's all so boring, I don't know how you understand half of it, let alone like it!"

"Muggle literature is very interesting, thank you very much!"

"Come on Ells, you know its boring."

"Do. Not. Call. Me. Ells"

"Oh please. I've heard Hugo call you that all the time!"

"That's because he's an annoying git."

"Sure, sure...Or is it because your in luuuuuurve!"

"RITA!"

"Okay, okay...I still don't understand why you hate him so much though. He seems nice enough."

"Just because Rose is your best friend!"

"Speaking of Rose," mum interrupted." I've been thinking, we should invite the Weasley's around for dinner!"

"What, all of them?" asked dad looking horrified. With good reason too. There were hundreds of them!

"No of coarse not! Just Hermione, Ronald, Rose and Hugo," she replied calmly.

"Hugo! No way in hell!" I cried.

"Language Eleanor," she looked at me disapprovingly before continuing. "It would be nice to catch up with them all. I haven't seen Hermione in a long time since she become the Head of Department for Magical Law Enforcement. I guess she's been busy."

"Well, what do you think?" mum asked dad sweetly.

"I guess that should be fine," he answered.

"Yes! I'll go owl Rose. Oh wait! I'm meeting her on the train! I'll tell her then," squealed Rita excitedly.

"Ella?" mum turned to me expectantly.

I sighed in defeat. "Do I even have a choice?"

* * *

"Are we there yet?" inquired Rita for about the hundredth time. Sometimes it was really hard to believe I was the youngest.

"No! It will take another 10 minutes, now stop asking!" scolded mum from the front seat of the car. She had a really short temper, the only thing which we both had in common.

"But we're going to be late. It's already quarter to," she continued.

"And whining about it won't get us there any faster," countered dad.

"Hey! I don't _whine_," she whined.

I snorted, as she shot me a scathing look. The truth was, Rita did whine. A lot. In fact, if there was a international whining competition (which I don't doubt. They have competitions for everything these days), she would win it by a mile. I laughed to myself, as I imagined Rita being presented with the trophy and her happy, beaming face. Not that she needed anymore trophies. There was already a whole cupboard dedicated to her awards. Even though she was a Hufflepuff, she was extremely intelligent, even more so than some Ravenclaws. Sometimes I wondered why she wasn't just sorted into Ravenclaw, but I guess her loyal and hardworking nature was more prominent in her personality.

I, on the other hand was a Gryffindor, and proud of it. The sorting hat did seriously consider putting me in Ravenclaw, but I'm glad it didn't. I would never have been able to get into the common room. How do I know this? Well, to make a long story short, last year I was trying to get into the Ravenclaw common room (you don't need to know why), but I didn't realise you had to answer some weird sort of riddle to get in. I was standing outside for almost an hour trying to figure the riddle out (The beginning of eternity, the end of time and space, the beginning of every end, and the end of every place) before a couple of first years took pity on me and answered the riddle for me (the letter 'e'). Trust me when I say, I don't want to experience that kind of humiliation again.

"Okay guys, we're here!" dad announced.

"Hurry up! Hurry up! You're going to be late," mum said, frantically ushering us through the Kings Cross Station crowds once we had finally gotten our trunks out of the car.

"I'm going to murder you if we miss the train Ella," threatened Rita once we had made our way to the brick wall separating platforms 9 and 10. She was almost as crazy as mum about punctuality.

"Chill. We have 5 minutes. We're not going to be late," I said, before inconspicuously falling against the wall and sliding into platform 9 3/4. As usual, the scarlet steam engine that was the Hogwarts Express didn't fail to amaze me. But I didn't have time to admire it as the whistle sounded, signaling that the train was to depart from the platform very soon. Just as I was about to drag my trunk over to the train Rita came flying through the gates and slammed into me, sending me sprawling into the ground.

"Could you just be a little more careful?" I said spitting dirt out of my mouth.

She apologised quickly and hurriedly hugged mum and dad goodbye before boarding the train.

"Now you take care Ella," mum said a little tearfully.

"Don't cry mum," I protested, trying my best to console her. "I'll be back for Christmas."

She nodded slowly, wiping away her tears.

"I suppose. Now behave yourself and don't read too much!" I had to laugh at that.

"We'll miss you. Have fun princess," dad winked and waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Honestly, sometimes my dad could just be_ plain revolting_. Suddenly, and much to my surprise, he pulled me into a bone crunching hug. "I love you Ellie," he whispered into my hair.

"I love you too dad."

"Now get a move on or your going to be left behind." He pulled back from our embrace and shoved me towards the train. I laughed, wiping away a few stray tears and hugged him one last time. He helped me pull my trunk onto the train, just as it started to leave the platform.

"I'll miss you!" I shouted, waving as the train rounded the corner and they disappeared out of sight.

**A/N: This is my first Harry Potter fanfiction so I'm a bit nervous. I've already written up to chapter 5 or so, but tell me if I should continue. Also, it would be much appreciated if you could write a review and give me some constructive criticism and feedback and thank you so much for reading :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise is the amazing work of JK Rowling. **

Hugo POV

"_...property Mr Godfrey Nickleby purchased a small farm, near Dawlish in Devonshire, whither he retired with his wife and two children, to live upon the best interest he could get for the rest of his money, and the little prod-"_

I unceremoniously dumped the book down onto the floor in frustration. It was no use. I was too hyped up, not even Charles Dickens could get me to sleep now. Usually it would take me hours to get back to sleep once I had woken up so there was next to no hope I would fall asleep again today being the first day of school. For some reason, I was always nervous on the first day. When I told my dad about it he just laughed and ruffled my hair, saying that it was exactly how he felt as well.

Sighing in exasperation, I grabbed the watch lying on my desk (I had accidentally broken my alarm clock yesterday) to see that it was barely half past seven in the morning. I sat up, stifling my yawn, so as not to wake Rose in the other room. I found it highly annoying how every time I woke up early (which was often), I would have to creep around silently just because the walls were so paper thin. Sadly, mum and dad hadn't yet realised this fact, judging from some of their no so quiet *ahem* _intimacies_ in their bedroom, it was enough to give anyone nightmares. That was definitely the bad side of having parents so obviously in love. Seriously, there are some things that your children just shouldn't have to hear.

As I hopped out of bed, my foot caught on the edge of my bed post and sent me hurtling to the ground. I picked my self up off the floor inwardly cursing my mother's lack of balance and hand-eye coordination, which had, unfortunately, been passed down to me. Even though Hermione Weasley was the best witch of her generation, she couldn't dance to save her life. Just ask dad about the Yule Ball in their fourth year. Apparently her date (I think it was Viktor Krum, but dad never mentions his name) was almost crying at how bad her dancing was (though I think he exaggerated a bit). Luckily for me though, there was one thing I had definitely not inherited from my mother and that was her extreme bossiness, though Rose was not as lucky. She was exactly like my mum in both appearance and personality except for that she had the trademark Weasley hair and freckles and also the fact that the only books she read were her text books (it's strange, I know). Apart from that, they were like twins.

Now that I was up, I searched for something to occupy me and help me forget it was the first day of school. I had packed and repacked my trunk which now lay at the foot of my bed, I had tidied my room the previous day, I had showered the night before and my robes were ironed and clean courtesy of my mum. I decided that the best option right now was to get dressed, go downstairs and make myself a cup of hot chocolate. It would be a while until Rose and Dad would be awake. Dad was a heavy sleeper, something that I envied, as apposed to my mum who was usually up at the crack of dawn. I wouldn't be at all surprised if at the moment she was sitting in the kitchen already making breakfast for Dad, Rose, me and herself, all the while reading her favourite book (it's _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts _if you were wondering).

I trudged down the stairs, now changed into my favourite light blue collared shirt and faded black jeans, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby clutched in my hand. As I reached the first floor landing, I heard the unmistakable sounds of someone in the kitchen. From the amount of noise they were making, I could tell it wasn't mum, but what would dad or Rose be doing up so early in the morning?

"I am so doomed this year," I heard Rose say to herself.

"Why are you doomed?"

Rose jumped in surprise as I entered the kitchen, sitting down next to her on the dining table.

"Um..." she shifted uncomfortably. Rose had a lot of trouble admitting her insecurities to other people. At school, she seemed to be perfect, head girl, perfect grades and hundreds of people literally falling over themselves to be her friend. But as her brother I knew better.

"Rosie, you know it's okay not to be sure of yourself sometimes," I said, attempting to calm her down a bit.

She sighed. "I know, I know."

"Then whats wrong?"

"I feel like... I think... I'm just scared... "

"C'mon, you can tell me." I reassured her, giving her hand a squeeze.

She sighed before saying,"I'm just so scared that I'm going to fail my NEWTs this year. I worked my bloody arse off to get the results I did in my O. and now mum and dad expect so much of me. Heck the whole Wizarding World does!" she threw her hands up in frustration. She took in a few deep breaths before she spoke again,"I know this sounds horrible Hugo, but sometimes I wish I wasn't a Weasley."

Her words sent a small pang through my heart, because despite the fact that I loved all my family to bits I knew exactly how she felt. Everyone treated us different at Hogwarts. Like we were something to be worshipped. And I won't lie, that was pretty awesome for the first weeks, but after that I didn't know who was my friend for me, and who was my friend for my fame. For once in my life I just wanted to be normal. To be judged by who I was and what I did. Not by my last name. There was hardly anyone besides Paul and Jules who didn't kiss my arse at every given opportunity, even the professors. There was only one person I could think of but she didn't count as insulting me for no reason whenever she saw my face could hardly be counted as being treated normally.

Even outside of school, whenever our family went on holiday, we were treated like royalty. Everyone knew everything there was to know about us. There was nothing in our lives that was private. And it wasn't just that. They all expected us to follow in our parents footsteps and become future heroes of the Wizarding World. People they could all look up to and admire. I could only imagine how much worse it was for Al, James and Lily.

"I know how you feel sis, but look at the bright side. Being a Weasley means that we get eat nan's treacle tart every Christmas. I don't know about you but I wouldn't give that up for anything," I winked, attempting to cheer her up.

It worked. Her face transformed as she let out a huge laugh. I joined her and for a while we just sat there, laughing for no particular reason whatsoever. We only stopped laughing when we heard the distant sounds of movement upstairs that meant that mum had woken up.

Wiping tears of mirth out of her eyes Rose looked up at me again. I could tell she was still concerned, but I didn't say anything. If she wanted to say something she would. I let her sit in silence for a while, leaving her to her own thoughts. It hurt me to see her so unsure of herself, but I still stayed silent. She would be okay.

Suddenly out of nowhere she pulled me into a bear hug. Perplexed, I hugged her back, patting her shoulder in what I hoped was a comforting manner.

"Thank you," she said, still hugging me tightly.

"What are brothers for?"

* * *

It was only after Rose had gone back upstairs to her room that I realised how hungry I actually was. I scoffed down my Pixie Puffs (they're gobling great!) at an alarming speed, not even bothering to look for the golden pixie hidden inside.

My stomach churned uncomfortably in anticipation for the coming year. Although I had done remarkably well on my OWLs, getting nine outstandings and one acceptable in charms, I couldn't help being anxious for the coming year. Sixth year was the start of NEWTs, which meant our days of relaxation were over.

"Morning," dad yawned, walking into the kitchen looking slightly disheveled. I was more than surprised that he was here, him usually being the last one to be wake up.

"Hey dad. Why are you up so early?" I asked curiously.

"Early? It's already half past ten," he replied, looking at me slightly oddly.

"What? Already?" I jumped up out of my seat in shock. How long had I been down here eating my cereal? I knew I was a slow eater, but really. Who in the world spends 2 hours eating breakfast?

"Hmmmmm..." said dad, who was now rummaging through the fridge, evidently having not listened to a word I had said. He finally found what he was looking for, a carton of milk, and took out a bowl before setting it on the bench next to my, now finished bowl of pixie puffs.

"Well, we're leaving in 10 minutes. You better check if everything is packed or else your mum'll have a hissy fit," he advised, before taking a gigantic gulp straight from the carton and promptly choking on it.

I decided to take his advice and climbed up the stairs to my room. After checking my trunk about three times and searching the room for any forgotten text books, I lay down on my bed and gazed up at the ceiling. It was painted black with a special enchantment placed on it so it looked like the starry night sky. I vividly remember begging my mum for it for days on end. For some reason the stars had always fascinated me. Their wonder and mystery was so puzzling, and yet there was something so _magical_ about them.

"HUGO! WE'RE LEAVING!" my mum called, interrupting my reverie.

"Coming," I replied, hurrying over to my trunk and tripping over my own feet on the way. I heaved it down the stairs slowly, coming to a stop at the bottom.

"Right. We've got the Ministry cars today so it shouldn't take long," mum told us, ushering dad, Rose and me out the front door.

Ever since Rose started at Hogwarts, we would always travel to Kings Cross Station in the Ministry cars. Dad had told me one day that they were extremely hard to get and only used for important people. Apparently, the only time mum and dad had used them in their school days was in their third year, and even then it was only for Uncle Harry's protection. I guess having extremely famous parents did have it's benefits.

Apart from Pig the second, my owl, breaking out of his cage and nearly pecking the ministry driver to death, the ride to Kings Cross was quite uneventful. After about ten minutes, we all piled out of the car and Rose and I got our trunks out of the back and headed towards the brick wall that separated platforms nine and ten, that was actually the entry to platform nine and three quarters, the platform from which the Hogwarts Express departed. Dad and Rose went first through the barrier, taking it as a run. Mum and I were next to go through. Ever since dad had told us the story about not being able to get through the barrier in his second year, Rose had feared being left behind. So, for this reason, Rose always was the first to go through.

As soon as mum and I had arrived onto the platform, Lily tackled me with a bone crunching hug.

"Can't... Breathe." I gasped.

"Oh sorry. I was so worried! I didn't hear from you for so long. I thought you had been killed by Voldemort's ghost or something!"

"Lily, I talked to you yesterday." I said. I wasn't surprised by her behaviour. Lily did this frequently, she was just weird that way.

"Well... I was still worried."

I chuckled. Even though she was a year younger than me, she was still my favourite cousin. We had always been friends because whenever the Potter's came over, which was a lot, Rose, Albus and James would always leave us out of their games.

"Hey! Hugo! Over here!"

I turned around to see Albus waving frantically at me on the opposite end of the platform. I wove my way through the mass of students towards him. When I finally got there, I saw he was with his best friend, Scorpius Malfoy, who I strongly disliked for his rather obnoxious attitude. I really didn't get why all the girls at school were head over heels in love with him.

"Hey Albus." I greeted him. "Scorpius," I added. He nodded.

"I was just wondering... Do you know who's quidditch captain this year?" Albus asked. I wasn't surprised by his question as he had been on the gryffindor team since his second year when he started playing seeker. I was shocked along with most of our family when I heard he hadn't gotten the position, but Al had insisted he had never wanted to be captain. He said it was too 'time consuming.' James had said he was mental and Lily had thrown him a disbelieving look, but personally I did understand what he meant. I had seen most of the previous captains (James included) fall into the trap of becoming too obsessed with quidditch and scheduling practices almost every day. This did not make them very popular amongst the rest of the team, and the players often came back from training sessions in varying degrees of frustration.

"Nope. Sorry," I replied truthfully.

"Oh, okay. Do you wanna grab a compartment?" he asked, but I could tell it was just out of politeness. Albus and I weren't really close.

"Ah... no. I promised Paul and Jules I would sit with them." Albus looked relieved.

"Well, I'll see you later then!" he said and boarded the train, Scorpius right behind him.

Once I had walked back to where my family was standing, there were barely 5 minutes until the train departed. I saw Rose had gone, most likely already sitting in a compartment waiting for the train to depart. I should probably get going too.

"Bye mum." I said, giving her a quick hug.

"Have fun dear. And study hard!" she replied, beaming.

"Yeah, because another Hermione is just what we need!" my dad said sarcastically, but grinning all the same.

"Bye dad."

'See ya kiddo." He looked uncharacteristically solemn.

I pulled my trunk onto the train just as the whistle sounded. I stopped to look at them both, suddenly wishing they could come to Hogwarts with me.

"Mum, dad... I best be going."

Mum smiled and pecked me on the cheek. "We'll miss you. Now go. You don't want to miss the train."

I laughed, waving at them, before getting onto the train just as it started to leave. The train was gathering speed, but I had one last thing to say

"I'll miss you!" I shouted, but the train had already rounded the corner.

**A/N: I'm sorry if this chapter was a little boring, but I needed to introduce Hugo and show the differences and similarities between him and Ella. I promise you it get's more interesting in later chapters. Also, just to clarify, most of the chapters will be written in Ella's perspective, but occasionally I will write in from Hugo's point of view.**

**Anyway, please review! Please, please, please, please! I would really like to hear any feedback, or suggestions. Thank you and keep reading! :)**


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